Apparatus for splitting wood blocks



July 11, 1950 G. VON DER WERTH 2,514,915

APPARATUS FOR SPLITTING woon BLOCKS Filed 001:. 2, 194a 4 sheets-sheet 1 p, L INVENTOR.

' Gordon van der War/h 1950 G. VON DER WERTH 2,514,915

APPARATUS FOR SPLITTING WOOD BLOCKS Filed Oct. 2, 1946 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

k Gordon van o'er Werfh Affy I July 11, 1950 e. VON DER WERTH APPARATUS FOR SPLITTING WOOD BLOCKS Filed Oct. 2, 1946 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 R mm V mW w d n w m f O 6 M 1950 G. VON DER WERTH 2,514,915

' APPARATUS FOR SPLITTING WOOD BLOCKS Filed Oct. 2, 1946 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 lNl/EN ran. Gordon van o'er Werfh Aft'y which slabs the shakes'are cut.

Patented July 11, 1950 UNITED STATES. PATENT I OFFICE APPARATUS FOR SPLI'ITING wool) ooK's Gordon von der WerthjSan Francisco. Caliifl, l Application October 2, 194 Serial No. 700.622v

appa-- duce a machine wherein wooden blocks may be split for the purpose of forming woodenshakes.

A further object is to produce a machine wherein a plurality of slabs are simultaneously split from a single block which results in mass production in contradistinction to the former at a time from method of producing one slab A further object is to produce a machinewhereby the splittingblade will be automatically re-" leased from a fixed position so as to freely follow the grain of the wood during the splitting operation.

A further object is to provide means whereby all of theblades engaging the block previous to any splitting operation are at an equal distance one from the other.

Other objects and advantages will be a parent during the course of the following description.

Inthe accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification and in which like numerals are employed to designate like parts throughout the same: Fig. 1 is a front elevation of my machine. Fig; 2 is a side elevation looking from the right of Fig. 1.

Fig.3 is a perspective view on an enlarged scale showing the blade carrier.

Fig. 4 is a sideelevationof the blade carrier as viewed from the left hand side of Fig. 1 and showing a portion thereof in cross section.

'Fig; 5 is a fragmentary rear elevation of Fig. 1

at the moment of initial contact of the blades" with the block to be split. p

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 5 showing the blades imbedded in the block during the final splitting operation.

Fig. '7 is an enlarged fragmentary topplan view of the blade carrier with the blade in splitting position as shown in Fig. 6.

Fig. 8 is a view similar to Fig. 7 showing the blades in the initial contacting position of Fig. 5 and partly in cross section, and l I r Fig. 9 is a cross sectional view taken on the line 9-9 of Fig. 7 and showing the spacers in cross section.

a Fig. 10 is a side elevation, similar to Fig. 2, and showing the means for raising and lowering the weight for driving the bladesinto the block.

In themaking of shakes it is common practice to saw into predetermined lengths, substantially rectangular logs. The resulting blocks thus 6 Claims. (01. 144-193) l 2 formed by the sawing lengthwise of the grain so that wooden slabs are formed. These slabs are later sawed diagonally of their length to form' tapered shakes.

In order to accomplish thissplitting operation it has been standard practice to employ a splitting knife which is forced downwardly through the block in any desired manner, to then split OE and remove a portion of the block, to then again engagethe knife with the top of the block and split off another portion. In this manner a block is finally split into a numberof slabs which can then'be resawed to form shakes. Such a method does not lend itself to mass production.

It is, of course, obvious that by splitting shakeslabs in this mannerthe resulting slabs are far from uniform as to thickness; consequently, the shakes sawed therefrom will vary with the vary ing thickness'of the slabs from which they are out. Also,the processis slow which results in a high'cost of production for slabs of very inferior quality.

Applicant has devised a method and a machine for splittingblocks of a predetermined length, which blocks are placed upon a suitable support after which a blade carrier is moved downwardly thereagainst with suificient force to initially set a plurality of different length blades in the end grain of the block, all of which blades at this time beingheld at a predetermined distance one from the other, and to then release the blades so that they are capable of movement sidewise with respect to each other and also so that they may cant in'following the grain of the wood.

Further movement of the blades through the block is effected by downward pressure upon the of the block will increase due to the splitting" action plus the thickness of the blades passing between the various slabs into which the block is being split; consequently, both the slabs being split and the blades causing the splitting must move sidewise in order to maintain a uniform width of slab from top to bottom.

In the accompanying drawings wherein for the purpose of illustr ation is shown a preferred embodirnent of my invention, the numeral 5 desiga nates' a support upon which is mounted a base block 6 which servesto position a plurality of spaced guide rods [the same being preferably ar-" ranged-in a rectangular-formation so as to slidoperation are then split ably support a blade carrier comprising a pair of parallel channels 8 and 9, each having collars as shown at l l, which slide upon the guide rods 1, engaging springs ill on the rods 1 when at the bottom of their travel as will be later seen.

These channels are connected together by spaced bars I2 which serve to support the spaced guides i3 and i4, between which is slidably mounted pressure plates, as shown at 16 and H, the pressure platesdfiandg l1 beingspaced' on opposite sides of the blade carrier. These plates I6 and I! in turn serve to support adjacent each end theerof a pair of vertically disposed blade carrying rods as shown at l8 and 19.: v

The rods 18 are .parallel and adjacent to the channel 9 while the rods i9 are-parallel and ad jacent to the channel 8 and formsupportslfor. a. plurality of blades, the configuration of which is best shown in Fig. 4, i. e., the blade'A has a" cutting edge 2| and tongues 22 which rest in the channels 8 and 9 and: are loosely: and slidably' mounted onftherods l8 and; I9;

Referring now to-Eig. 9; it-rwill be, noted, that the blade A is the center blade and-while loosely mounted on the rods-l 8. isprevented frommoving sidewise toanyextentby pins u, the-purpose of which-wilLbe-later seen; A-1so;,in this; figure it willbenoted that positioned on opposite-sides oftheblade-A are long bladesB and C and short blad8$= Dand E and that'allofthese blades-are spacedan.

equaldistance apart through the medium ofspacers- 2' t and26 positioned on'the rods 4.8:.

The length of the blades; thataisffrom-cuttingedge to back, isofutmost. importance foretwo reasons, inthat in using-staggered lengths it spreadsthe sidewise movement'of. the; wood:- oven a. longer period of time: for; a. given, downward movement of theblades;and-secondly, the short? est blades enterthe-blockr aiter-theJong-er blades on either, side have alreadybeen-well-setin the block;- hence-these-shorter bladescannotlbecome misaligned while the longer blades are int-the. process of sidewise movement.

Taper is also important inasmuchas it is desirablethat thewoodbe compressed. to some degree before splittingv takes place. The taper isdesigned so-that-the block will not. actually besplit .until all of the-longest.- blades have. entered. the:block. Then the splittingby aILbIadestakes place inrapid. succession -withl regard-to their individual. lengths.

The spacers 24 have'housedthereinspringszfl, and also elongated. spacers. 28 extend. from. the. blades-C and abut eithenthezplate L6 or I], asthe case may be, when the bladesarein the held position as-showninEigafi. a

Springs. 29- are: carried onthe outer. ends of. the. rods [8 and I 9sand tendtdmovethe plates l 6 and. IT against thespacers 28.; therefore at the. momentwhen the blades stant-torenter theblockno. diflicultyis experienced fromthe sidewisemovement of the-leading edge bythe very; fact. that this sidewise movement is: takingplaee and causing a twisting action one; verysmalLportionrof. the, blades concerned (the. cutting edge). The. springs, therefore, havebeenplaced.only on the. rods near the top portion of; theblades to; coun teract this action. The: springs aid in the. sideawise movement .of the upper portionof the blades under friction. developed by pressure of the blade against the carrier as well as aiding in the actualsidewise movementof. the block; beingsplit. Pressure. is relieved fromthese springs 21 automatically-bythe controlled action of the guided. plates; l6 and I1 compressing the tensionesprings 23.

Mounted between and parallel to the spaced bars l2 are rotatable shafts as shown at 3| and 32 and secured to the ends of these shafts are weighted arms 33 and 34 respectively which form a blade releasing device.

A spring 36 extends between two of the arms (see Fig. 3), and is adapted to engage pins 3'! on each of the arms when the arms are in down position (see Fig. 5).

Also, secured? to. the shafts 3l and 32 are cam members, as shown at 3B and 39 respectively, which cam members, when in the position of Fig. 3'; push against the plates [6 and 11 respectively, holding them' against tension of the springs 29, thus releasing the blades and permitting the springs?! to function as illustrated in Fig. 9. Tensionsprings 2.9. are of sufficient strength to overcome resistance of springs 21 and insure sufficient' rigidity of the blades in cutting position as well as being flexible enough to allow for maximum sidewise: movement without offering too much resistance to cams38: and 39. Furthenwhenthearms 33: and 3,4 are in'the-position of'Fig'. 3 they will engage stops M to preventfurther upward movement of the arms 33 and 3.4 throu h" the action ofthe spring 36.

Whenthe-ca-ms 33 and--39 are in their lowered. positionso as to moveitheplates l6 and H inwardlythe-cams will engagethe-pins- 42 (seeFig; 1), thus-limitingthedownwardmovement of the: arms 33 and 34. Itwill thus be; apparent that when-the arms 33 and 34 are in.- the-lowered: position of *Fig. 5, theblades will all be held in uniform spaced relation and when the arms-are-moved to the position ofFig. 6, that the'bladeswill be free' to move upon the rods l 8 and I9 and to follow the" gr-ainof the. block being.- split;

Inreview, the blade releasing device is inertia operated, controlled; by the .downward: movement of the blade carrier. It consists: of guided pres-- sure plates H5; and H anda Weighted cam arm device. At this point cognizanoe-shouldbe taken of the fact that thetam-action-andfihat.of plates I6:and ll, though interrelated are completelyin dependent. of. each other in: action;

To further explain this, it should be pointed'oub that thesidewisemovement-of these plateszis initially controlledbythe blades themselves inasmuch as the blades, due to taper and number, movelsidewise two to threetimes' faster than the downward movement of the carrier orupward movementfof thecam-arm's 3-3'and 34; Thisaction is highly significant and desirable as it allows the blades to enter theblock under'the guided action of the tension springs 29; thus assuring alignment before thecam action takesover and. releases the blades completely.

The plates t6 and I-I are guided so that they are unable to tilt'when' pressure is applied by the lower blade spacers only and insuresthat pressure will berelieved from the top blade spacers automatically.

As a safety factor and to insure, against damage to the mechanism, due tothe exceptionally uneven grain of the block being split, the plates It and H can exceed their normal traverse as insured by thepcam becauseof its independence, and allowance is maderf'orthis in compression of the tension springs 29.

The cam spring 36 is so arranged as to only exert pressure when the arms 33- and 34 are past the horizontal position. This aids in the outward movement of the plates l6 and I! andkeeps the arms. in anuprightlposition when the blade.- carr-ier compressesabumper spring I10.

, lmorde'r toforce the blades through the block I-provide a driving element which may be of any desired form, but here I have shown a weighted I frame slidable on the guide rods I and consisting ment therewith- A pair of lifting rods 41 slidably connect the,

plate43 with the blade carrier, the result being that: as the weighted frame moves upwardly it will engage a stop 48 mounted upon the upper ends o'f therods 41 and will raise the blade carrier to a point above the normal top ofa block to be split. The result of this construction is that assuming the parts have all been assembled in operative position the weight is lifted together with the blade carrier through the action of the lifting rods 4'1.

The weight and the carrier move upwardly as one unit until the blade carrier is high enough to permit the insertion of a block on the plate 6 with its end grain directed toward the blades in the carrier.

In order to lift and drop the weight, I provide an arm pivoted as at 52, and having a con necting rod 53, connected to the plate 43. A roller 54, carried by the arm 5|, engages a cam 56, the rotation of which raises and drops the arm 5| and, consequently, the blades and driving weight.

After the block is in position the blade carrier and weight start down as a unit, the blade carrier falling approximately six inches before coming to rest with the blades partially imbedded in the upper end grain of the block. This allows the longer of the blades to set their cutting edges and thus insure that the blades are in perfectly spaced alignment. the blades at this time being held by the tension springs 29 against the spacers 24 and 26.

Further dropping of the weight drives the blades into the block but the time delay between the initial setting of the blades in the block and the time the weight delivers a blow to the carrier insures against cocking of the blades, which are movable, being only underspring tension, and during this interval the blades have a chance to recover from their first shock through the action of the springs 29. The interval between the setting of the blades and the striking of the blow is only a fraction of a second.

As the weight drives the blade carrier downwardly through the block the cam arms 33 and 34 will move into upward position due to the inertia of the weights, inasmuch as the rapid downward movement of the'blade carrier will pivot the arms 33 and 34 from the position shown in Fig. 5 to that shown in Fig. 6, thus forcing the plates I6 and I! to move outwardly, thereby releasing the spacers 28 and springs 21 which were previously holding the blades in relatively fixed position.

The blades may now follow the grain of the block free of any friction which would be caused by springs 29 and may also move sidewise on their respective rods to take care of the increased blades imbedded therein.

The carrier will finally come to rest against I the springs l0 and this completes one cycle of blades from the split slabs, and also the upward width of the block, plus the thickness of the movement will reset the. arms 33 and 34 to the position of Fig. 5 ready for the next descent of thebladecarrier, the resetting mechanism.

It is to'be understood that the form of my invention'herewith shown and described is to be taken as a preferred example of the same and that various changes'relative to the material, size, shape and arrangement of parts may be'resorted to without departingfrom the spirit of the invention within joined claims;

- Having thusdescribed my invention, I claim: 1. 'Ina device of the character described, a

blade." carrier comprising a substantially reci tangular frame, parallel rods mounted in said frame, vertically-disposed blades slidably mounted on said rods, spring means positioned between: said'blades; spacers positioned between said blades, elongated spacers positioned on said rods and'enga'ging the outer ones of said blades, guided pressure plates supporting said rods and tension springs engaging said plates and tending to overcome the action of said springs between said plates, and inertia operated means for relieving the action of said tension springs toward said blades.

2. In a shake forming machine, a frame, means to guide said frame for vertical movement, two pairs of horizontally disposed vertically spaced rods on opposite sides of said frame,

a series of spaced splitting blades having their end portions mounted on said rods, spring spacers mounted on one rod of each pair between said blades, spring means on the ends of the spring carrying rods urging said blades toward each other, said blades having a loose sliding connection with the other rod of each pair, and loose spacers interposed between the blades on the last mentioned rods.

3. In a shake forming machine, a frame, means to guide said frame for vertical movement, two pairs of horizontally disposed vertically spaced rods on opposite sides of said frame, a series of spaced splitting blades having their end portions mounted on said rods, spring spacers mounted on one rod of each pair between said blades, spring means on the ends of the spring carrying rods urging said blades toward each other, said blades having a loose sliding connection with the other rod of each pair, loose spacers interposed between the blades on the last mentioned rods, and spring means on the last mentioned rods urging said blades against the spacers thereon.

4. In a shake forming machine, a frame, opposite sides of said frame constituting confronting channels, means to guide said frame for vertical movement, two pairs of horizontally disposed vertically spaced rods on opposite sides of said frame, a series of spaced splitting blades having their end portions mounted on said rods, and their ends supported in said channels, spring spacers mounted on one rod of each pair between said blades, and spring means on the ends of the spring carrying rods urging said blades toward each other.

5. In a shake forming machine, a frame, opposite sides of said frame constituting confronting channels, means to guide said frame for vertical movement, two pairs of horizontally disposed vertically spaced rods on opposite sides of said frame, a series of spaced splitting blades having their end portions mounted on said rods. and their ends supported in said channels, spring spacers mounted on one rod of each pair the scopeof the sub-- manner 5':

sliding connection with the'other rod of each pair, and loose spacers interposed between the" blades on the last mentioned. rods.

6. In a shake forming machine," a frame;. opposite sides of said frame constituting; con-- fronting channels; means to. guide said frame for vertical movement; two pairs of horizontally disposed vertically spaced rods on opposite'sid'es' of said frame; a series of spaced splittingblades having'their end portions tinounted on said'rods, and their ends supportedi'n said'channels, spring spacers mounted on one rodiofeach pair bedtweens'aid blades, spring means'on the ends of the" spring carrying rods urging said blades: tad-- w'ard each other, said blades having a loose sliding" connection with the other rod" of. each". pair," loose spacers interposed between the blades on:

the lastimentione'd rods; and spring means on the: last mentioned rods urging said blades against the spacers thereon.

' GORDON VON DER WERTI-I.

v nnrnnnrionsorrnn The following references are of record in thefileof this patent:

U ITED STATES PATENTS Number Name-v Date- Cork Machine Barron Jan. 13, 1819 144,292 Shelmandine Nov. 4, 1873 257,966 Midwood May 16, 1882- FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 311,359 German Mar. 19, 1919: 53,294 Sweden Feb.- 28, 1923' 105,547

Sweden Sept. 22, 1942' 

